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Isla Nublar: Jurassic Park/Jurassic World (S/F) / (S/F-T/G)

Isla Nublar, is located 120 miles west off the coast of Costa Rica. The island was once inhabited by an indigenous tribe called the ‘Bribri’. The Island was officially discovered in 1525 by the Spanish Navigator, Diego Fernandez. Isla Nublar’s name originates from the cartographer Nicolas de Huelva’s description of a ‘cloud island’ while mapping western Costa Rica.

The Bribri tribe was eventually relocated to the Costa Rican Mainland by InGen approximately circa 1987 or 1988. The tribe itself got the unfair end of the deal with living in poverty on the mainland. John Hammond and InGen spent the next five years setting up the biological preserve that would eventually become Jurassic Park. Incorporating all the advances available at the time technologically speaking, Jurassic Park was intending on opening shortly after a fateful on-site inspection in June of 1993. After Dennis Nedry, the park’s computer programmer, engineered a glitch in the safety systems the park itself was left abandoned after being hired by Lewis Dodgson to steal embryos. Dodgson would however hide his involvement in the plot as Nedry’s remains was found during the park’s cleanup in 1994 with no clear indication of who had hired him.

The fallout after the incident in 1993 would force InGen into being on the verge Chapter 11 bankruptcy. While Isla Sorna, InGen’s Site B, remained in operation up until early 1994 possibly, the island itself would be abandoned close to four years by InGen due to Hurricane Clarissa. That was until at least a British family on a private yacht cruise stumbled upon Site B’s facilities. They pressed charges against InGen and Peter Ludlow, John Hammond’s nephew, used the incident as a launching point to take control of the board from Hammond and work on salvaging the company by completingJurassic Park: San Diego. This would eventually bring about the end of InGen by the San Diego Incident occurring. A year after the San Diego Incident in 1998, Simon Masrani – on behalf of Masrani Global, stepped up in order to fulfill Hammond’s dying wish of seeing the park to come to fruition. Jurassic World would open in 2005 and would remain operational until the year of 2015.

History

In 1982, John Hammond had a dream to bring biological attractions so astounding they would literally shock and awe the entire world after maintaining a zoo in Kenya with Robert Muldoon. John Hammond began laying the ground work for International Genetic Technologies out of Palo Alto, California with further locations and operations in Europe and San Diego, CA. By the time of 1985 InGen was established and built up a rapport in the global economy before moving to fulfill John Hammond’s dream. John Hammond hires Dr. Laura Sorkin for a proof of concept and shows InGen that extinct DNA can be extracted from mosquitos trapped in amber. John Hammond establishes Isla Sorna as a research outpost for production of the animals and San Diego for the theme park location due to the world-famous San Diego Zoo being local to it. John Hammond also begins funding Alan Grant’s research at some point in this time frame. Eventually, Dr. Henry Wu is eventually brought on board InGen’s Operation and begins working with Sorkin. Wu’s successful with cloning dinosaurs in an efficient manner beating out Sorkin’s time bids. Sorkin becomes resentful and a pain to InGen from this point on. After producing a reasonable stock of dinosaurs InGen and John Hammond decides to abandon the concept of Jurassic Park San Diego and look a little closer to an island near their operations in the South Pacific. InGen established the island shortly after abandoning the concept of Jurassic Park San Diego in 1987 and/or May of 1988. Subsequently, as a result of leasing Nublar from the government Oscar, Nima, and their tribe are removed from Isla Nublar by the Costa Rican government. Sorkin still remains on with InGen and gets her field lab on Nublar in an effort to show she can still be of use by correcting Wu’s mistakes. Building continues on Isla Nublar until Jophery, a Jurassic Park Security team member, is killed by a Velociraptor during a transfer to the holding pen. Major construction comes to a halt on Isla Nublar leaving many structures unfinished until John Hammond receives endorsements from outside opinions. It is at this time Doctors Grant, Sattler-Degler, and Malcolm are all approached to come and give their opinion on the park. Dennis Nedry, in the visit, sabotaged the computer systems and attempted to escape with a can of dinosaur embryos as a result.

The Isla Nublar Incident took place officially between June 11th to the 13th in 1993 on a lone island 120 miles west of Costa Rica known as Isla Nublar. The incident was the beginning of the end for John Hammond’s genetics company of InGen, as the loss of the resort facilities caused Hammond to not only re-examine himself as a capitalist, but the monetary loss caused the company to be on the verge of Chapter 11 bankruptcy.

Post Nublar Incident-Jurassic World Construction

(Element of JP:TG) Billy Yoder arranged for a bombing of the island with the United States Military as part of a cooperative effort between InGen during the rescue of Dr. Laura Sorkin, Dr. Gerry Harding, and his daughter Jess Harding. (End of JP:TG Element) Due to the events after incident the fate of Isla Nublar was covered up thanks to magnetic disturbances that advised boaters to stay away from the island. This can be seen on the map that Kelly Curtis looks at in the trailers prior to stowing away with her father,

In 1994, clean-up teams were sent to Isla Nublar to bring the Island under control. Henry Wu assisted the team to catalogue the animals on the island, and to determine the reason why the Dinosaurs were breeding.

Dr. Malcolm and his team composed of Eddie Carr and Nick van Owen in 1997. Ian Malcolm was particularly open about the events that transpired on Isla Nublar, the stories of mutilation and death which InGen successfully placed to rest constantly. Malcolm faced emotional, financial, academic, and personal backlash as a result of being outspoken about what became known as the Isla Nublar Incident. The rumors attracted the attention of Dr. Sarah Harding to Dr. Malcolm as he recovered in a Costa Rican hospital. It’s also known that Dr. Sarah Harding may in fact be related to Dr. Gerry Harding, the park’s veterinarian. Peter Ludlow addressed the InGen Board in 1997 after Cathy Bowman was attacked by a pack of vicious Compsognathus and revealed that the island itself was demolished. During this period, Simon Masrani began talks to acquire InGen. Another acknowledgment of life not being present on Nublar anymore is due to Malcolm’s comments on the Lysine Contingency while at John Hammond’s bed side. The animals thrive on Isla Sorna due to the plant life present is very lysine-rich.

In 1998, Masrani Global acquired InGen and immediately focused on restructuring the island for the Jurassic World project. Masrani gathered experts from the company to gather all of the company’s resources for the project. The planning stages would take another four years until the construction officially began in 2002. Simon Masrani would utilize its subsidiaries Axis Boulder Engineering and Timack Construction during this planning phase.

Construction on the Jurassic World project was ongoing from 2002 to 2004. About 1.2 billion dollars was spent on concrete and building materials as well. InGen security was contracted as well, to protect workers from the ‘native wildlife’. The construction of Jurassic World was met with a media frenzy, as well as controversy from conservation groups around the world.

In 2005, Jurassic World opened to the public with 98,120 visitors in it’s first month. In that same year, an agreement was made between Masrani and the Costa Rican Environmental Protection Society to ensure the safety of the wildlife on Isla Nublar.

Inhabitant Species Controversy

On the tour map only twelve species are shown. The map is missing Stegosaurus, Pteranodon, and Compsognathus. The cryogenic tanks themselves hold eight embryos on one and seven embryos on the other. Listed below is what we see on the Embryo Storage Units with their respected version numbers:

According to a Jurassic Park documentary, “The Real Jurassic Park”, behind Michael Crichton you can see “Baryonyx” as one of the species on the embryo cold storage canisters. Further in a new video feature or the new Blu-Ray release found here it is revealed that Compsognathus was also present on the embryo storage units as well and confirming it as one of the fifteen species. Evidence supports the version numbers did carry over from the novel to the movie in this capacity, as the science would have to be relatively the same, these numbers are more akin to software. For more information on version numbers and InGen’s motives, go here.

Many other movie sources have been confusing on the amount of animals on Nublar exactly showing at least 12 excluding the Herrerasaurus paddock, but the animal is indicated to be there from its appearance by the Bonecrusher Roller Coaster witnessed by Nima, Dr. Gerry Harding, and Jess Harding; however while JPTG’s status is soft canon in a certain sense the only element to be retained from it would be the death of all four Hadrosaurs witnessed by a park veterinarian.

Pteranodon and Compsognathus were found to be animals slated to be on Isla Nublar. A species of Pteranodon is at least intended to be there from the mural in the Operations Center. In Jurassic Park: The Game we get to see them make an appearance as they past Billy Yoder, Oscar Morales, and D-Caf‘s chopper in the events after the Incident on Isla Nublar. One thing is certain is that, Jurassic Park was to feature “Majestic flying reptiles” on one of its rides (Jungle River Cruise) per an audio recording found in the VIP Luncheon area while slide shows played in the background. Due to the events of JPTG (Jurassic Park: The Game) it would appear that the JP3 Pteranodons are the inhabitants of choice for Isla Nublar, which could imply a similar genesis to that of the Cearadactylus from the novels, seeing how the behavior is similar.

One of the interesting elements of the game was covering theme park compatibility as seen with the Troodons not being included in the island’s inhabitants list, and the Mosasaurus pending approval as well in some capacity. The argument of park compatibility can also go towards the Velociraptors as any other animal created by InGen for the Jurassic Park project going forward. Version numbers make sense on this note due to the need to constantly refine the dinosaurs for a theme park compatible integration and refine the end result of any genetic faults or anomalies.

The game shows us Compsognathus on Isla Nublar and witnesses it scavenging a Parasaurolophus carcass for the events Dr. Gerry Harding witnessed. What’s more is that we know Compies were created for Jurassic Park: The Ride, but there’s an interesting promotional photo with Steven Spielberg standing with one of the Tour vehicles from the first film with Compies laid about on the ground. Other heavy pieces of evidence that confirm its own presence on Isla Nublar is at Universal Studios Hollywood/Universal Orlando for the Jurassic Park: The Ride’s in-queue video via two different sources in the past who had watched the videos. During the introductory video to the Jurassic Park ride you see John Hammond, played once again by Sir Richard Attenborough, and it confirms the presence of Compsognathus on Isla Nublar as a dung eater. While this has been said to be seen by two different people who rode the ride, we’ve been unable to verify directly.

This can mean several different things about the fate of the Compsognathus on the island. It could mean that the animal is a free-roamer and not considered to be part of the tour, but this idea is speculative because the Procompsognathus from the novel fulfilled the same role that the Compies would. Further strengthening Compsognathus‘ claim to the title as one of the mystery animals of Isla Nublar is that during 1995 there was a brief “Dinosaurs of Jurassic Park” exhibition showing Compsognathus as one of the dinosaurs of Isla Nublar, the brochure from it here can confirm this as well as additional commentary found on the Jurassic Park Blu-Ray release’s “Return to Jurassic Park” documentary. Recently, it was indicated by the Dinosaur Protection Group site that Compies were actually not scheduled to be on the facilities due to the InGen documents they recovered that discusses InGen’s lists, assets, and other details regarding InGen’s own history between films. What is revealed is that Compsognathus had become almost akin to a rat infestation of some kind, and the animal was literally everywhere. So while the John Bell video linked to earlier indicates the animal was an embryo on the vial it was not listed as part of the tour. In a way it is suggested that InGen added it as a way to say it was planned instead of admitting to their inability to control and contain the animals altogether. A similar idea is put forth in the novel with Procompsognathus, again, being the ones to make it to the mainland and being everywhere. The Dinosaur Protection Group also indicates that Corythosaurus was an embryo listed on Isla Nublar and is one of the mystery embryos stolen by Nedry during the 1993 Incident. As more documents come to light, the more gaps that will be filled in regarding the information available about InGen’s plans for the Isla Nublar, Isla Sorna, and other facilities as well what specifically was cloned as well.

Something of note is that per a final draft of the film’s script that got re-published via the Comic Adaptation and Junior Novelization there was a likelihood of Apatosaurus being one of the fifteen. Apatosaurus was debatable, confirmed because of this piece of art found also during the luncheon scene that is simultaneously used as a concept art piece for the Ride under construction in Hollywood at the time. This piece of art, while dubious, is most likely an Apatosaurus or related animal of some kind. If Apatosaurus was scheduled to be a dinosaur of Jurassic Park it’s likely it was scrapped somewhere along the lines before the movie was finished and seemingly replaced with Brachiosaurus. Eventually Apatosaurus would be included as a dinosaur for Masrani’s Jurassic World when he rebuilt Nublar’s facilities and opened Jurassic World to the public in 2005..

It would seem that there was some executive authority either by John Hammond, Peter Ludlow, and eventually Simon Masrani that all animals produced by the genetics division would have to be authorized to be on the official specimen list for the park in order to be a considered. This introduces a concept for additional animals on Nublar and mentions that some animals could be introduced in Phase B time (e.g., Mosasaurus) while some animals like Troodon have been completely quarantined with intention of being retired.

Underground Tunnels & Geothermal Power

It is shown that Isla Nublar has underground/maintenance access tunnels to move personnel, equipment and even supplies across the island. The tunnels themselves do not connect directly to the Visitors’ Center or Sorkin’s Lab just yet, but they are everywhere and do connect to the Marine Facility at the very least. From what is shown the path of the tunnels is largely incomplete. We also know power is supplied to InGen’s operation on Jurassic Park via Geothermal Power, which is located close to Dr. Sorkin’s lab.

Maps

Park Tour MapThis is the official map from the Official Souvenir Magazine and seen on the Brochure in the film, however, Herrerasaurus was edited to be in it’s current position from the transfer from Brochure to the magazine. Although cartoonish, and it contradicts the paddock structure seen in the film on the computer screens as the fences are going out, this map is considered to be canon and based on generalization above all else.

TellTale Map
TellTale makes some adjustments to the position of the paddocks, additional areas, and the tour road. This isn’t completely off, really, and locations are generally within the same area, save for a few exceptions which make it a bit more consistent with the Paddock shutdown map. So in essence this is within the error margin we originally determined back when we did our own Isla Nublar map of “generalization”. By no means does it serve as an exact scale for where things are, but it is considered a somewhat general guide of where things/events are placed like the tour map. Any inconsistencies can be safely ignored due to the simplicity of both maps.

Jurassic World Park Map

The Nublar map under Masrani ownership differed in several topographical details. The park’s previous infrastructure appears to have either been removed or integrated to fit the new park, as several of the features on the map overlap with the previous paddocks. The lagoon and the boardwalk serve as the hub of activity in Jurassic World, with most activities and access to transportation located there. The public entrance to Jurassic World is through the Ferry Landing in the extreme south of the Island. The Monorail transports guests from the ferry to the Isla Nublar Hilton, although there are four other monorail stops on the boardwalk. The monorail provides guests with access to all of the parks attractions and facilities.

The north of the Island is designated the ‘Restricted Zone’, and access is most likely restricted to guests. In addition, there appears to be a physical barrier separating this area from the area of the park accessible to guests. The park’s geothermal power station is also located in this area. Also we have gotten our hands on brochure map from an extra that starred in the fourth film. We are going to keep their identity as anonymous for their privacy, but we are very grateful for their contribution to have this other look at the differences between Jurassic Park and Jurassic World.

Another more detailed map was released for the film, also as poster and lithograph. This one details the sectors and how they are divided across the island, the map even lists the ACU substations on it with the little blips across it. By far this map is the most detailed out there of the Jurassic World layout. Unfortunately there is no explanation evident for the drastic changes in geography of the island from 1993 to 2015.

Another map made in 2018 by digital artist SteamBlust, is essentially another revision of the newer Jurassic World map that came out in 2015 and is in the form of the more detailed map released from the film that would probably be used in ACU substations or the control room of the park itself. This moves the lagoon closer to the ocean rather than being in-land. Per conversations on Twitter with Colin Trevorrow when people asked about this, it was always meant to be this way. The Jurassic Park island, in particular Nublar, has had a lot of different realizations of it over the years. So this in itself, is no different than what the fandom had been dealing with in terms of maps being based on nothing more than generalities and loose associations alone. See the Jurassic Park Legacy map as well as the explanation and analysis of how TellTale’s game affected the map itself as well in the next section after this.

Map made by SteamBlust as part of the 2018 sequel. Correcting where the lagoon and the Jurassic World park itself was.

Topographical Map from Proof Inc. A production company tasked with visuals for Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom

Jurassic Park Legacy Map

The JPL Map Without JPTG Locations

The Nublar map will always be a point of contention from the way the roads and locations are listed from the official prop brochure and the actual representation in the film as a result of the contradictory nature, and error between props. For something more specific you would look at the maps shown in the control room, which is the perspective we take when it comes to the production of our map. Due to the incomplete state of the S/F-Canon map and the simplified nature of it; the staff here at Jurassic Park Legacy moved in to fix this issue with our own map.

JPTG Locations Included.

This is the redone Isla Nublar map by JP Legacy as the original map done by Joel Meine (Dr. Dino) was horribly inaccurate. The Meine Map has been basically all over the community including mixed canons, suggesting a wider southern peninsula that does not match anything seen in the film and further being a mixed canon map. Meine’s map was also lacking the correct location for the Gallimimus Paddock seen in the fence shutdown scene. The Jurassic Park Legacy version of this map is combining what we see on all of the maps seen in the film into one big map. The maps used were the CD-ROM Tour Map (seen in the cars), Brochure Tour Map (listed above), and the computerterminal maps (seen in the control room). We realized that all the maps shown film don’t all necessarily match up together due to oversights in prop making.

Explanation of TellTale Locations/How it effects the Film-Canon
The only way for Nima’s prologue sequence to make sense is she had to have crossed a road in a panic (running west) and then got chased by the creepy Troodons (running North) before being ran up an incline, over a cliff, then falling down, and being hit (or narrowly missed) by the Hardings in the spot with the red dot. Gerry decides it’s best for Nima to be treated back at the Visitors’ Center, so they make the long trek back by taking Service Roads, coming onto the same road that Robert Muldoon and Ellie took to the abandoned tour cars, before forking (additional road added) to go onto a tour road not utilized by the tour program just yet.

So why the deviation? For one if they were to be speeding off with an injured woman in the car it would show a really bad impression for John Hammond’s tour group if they ran into them. Further, this would allow Gerry, Jess, and Nima to avoid running into the Rex Attack sequence almost akin to a narrow miss. Now, yes, I did say there is an additional service road added in to where the Tyrannosaurus paddock is and this is because this is the only way this scene can make sense as the other brings us out RIGHT where the tour cars are, which at this point Gerry and Jess are ignorant as to what’s going on as seen later when they approach the baby Triceratops, Bakhita, outside of her paddock. We’re not new to the concept of adding a trail or road in here and there to these maps, but we try not to be careless with them – it has to functionally work for the scenes to make sense when there is no other alternative. We had to do this for Nedry’s sequence in order for it to make sense, too!

Now, one of the roads we once considered a service road is now a tunneled tour road. The reason for these two roads is actually a matter of inconsistency between the more rounded road here and the more zig-zagged road here (which is what we used for our original map). This leads into the Tyrannosaurus paddock and may effect the Rex’s known range somewhat (not a big deal). So now we reach the cool part: What Telltale had ingeniously done though is give us a means to explain one of the biggest head-scratchers ever on the film, and that’s on how the tour cars got turned around. If the round-about to turn the cars around is in the Dilophosaurus Paddock (This is a secondary paddock as the primary is just after the entrance. This secondary Dilophosaurus Paddock comes from the Shutdown Sequence, while the primary is on the CD-ROM Tour map), why did Grant, Gennaro, Malcolm, and kids go back through the Rex Paddock? The answer is that converted service road to a tour road with a tunnel on it. John Hammond’s Visitors finish seeing the Sick Trike, the cars pulled forward, then reverse direction to go back around the way they came. So here we sit, a means to an end that properly explains something that was a bit convoluted on the original Control Room map. As a result the Sick Triceratops sequence is moved further north, which seems to fit with the topography we were anticipating as the original placement was a general educated guess. This works better for, also, quarantine reasons for the Sick Triceratops from the rest of the herd also given their now over-protective nature of the alpha.

We also had to move the Desalinization Plant further north, which is expressed by Dr. Sorkin in the game as being “a cover for the Marine Facility where the project itself would move into Phase B”. More about this later. In addition, the North Dock is shown to more or less be the arrival/departure point of visitors to InGen’s Jurassic Park facility, which makes sense for there being two docks – one a supply dock and the other a Visitor dock – even if it is borrowed from the novel. Now this brings us to the next point since the East Dock is primarily the point to receive supplies/personnel for the island.

Do some of the service roads hold an electronic tour track for transport/maintenance access of vehicles? Let’s note that in the beginning sequence of the game when Nima narrowly misses the jeep after being bitten by the Troodon we don’t see a tour road track, but later when it shows us the point of view of Jess and Gerry we see a sort of track involved. Not a major deal, but this is probably an oversight. Also, during the scene between Jess, Nima, and Gerry on the road where Gerry is checking Nima to see if she’s alive, the “road track” around them disappears and re-appears in the next sequence. I would surmise if there is a track there it’s maybe used to move the cars around in case of a break down, maybe? Or some service roads had a tour track for that reason? Keep in mind this is also allegedly near or about at the same road Dennis Nedry took to get off the island. Why didn’t we see a track in the film? Considering the road as part of the same route as Nedry took does mean we have to ponder ‘why no tour track?’ Visibility in heavy rain is limited and we do have a tropical storm going on, so the water flow could have obscured this from our vision. A more tedious analysis of this sequence is planned, but for now we know the Hardings were en-route to the dock and this is an approximate of where the scene could have or did take place.

Further, we may have an additional Dilophosaurus paddock, possibly. Near Nedry’s death after Miles and Nima cut through the jungle they reach an electric fence of sorts. There is a sign after they cross over the fence (and out of their field of vision) that indicates possible Dilophosaurus territory. This is a tricky retcon aside from the ol’ “throw another Dilophosaurus paddock next to the tour road” thing we’ve been doing with the previous other scenarios when there’s a contradiction in Dilophosaurus placement. (See “Shutdown Sequence“, “Tour Map“, “CD-ROM Map“, and “Film” for examples of road placements/contradictions and Dilo Paddock Placement.) A fourth is not that far of a stretch since a tour road is near that location and there’s some space that could be accounted for in regards to the jungle river cruise, but again this sign could also be a warning to workman that “said carnivore” is nearby and that way if they see the animal they can easily identify and report the issue to their superior. We do need a further investigation into this matter, but for now this fourth Dilophosaurus pen is on debate status and ergo not included.

The Scenic Point on the tour indicates a possible rest stop. Topography shows it overlooking an area where you see mountains and a fence behind. Placement could be by the Dilo paddock unless there’s another rest station up further north we didn’t know about. There’s a fence behind them during this sequence. This could fit where our rest stop is and a perimeter fence, but it’s in a proximity that should be close to the Marine Facility. I placed it here, also, due to the fact that you hear the tour car mention Dilophosaurus as well, and I would presume that’s an indication they’re by the Dilophosaurus paddock. I have added the tunnel that the car comes out of, but what’s of interest is that the car comes from the opposite direction compared to where we saw the original tour – this still could be a reversal of the tour program at some point. Other points of interest will also be added in time, but for now this is strictly preliminary.

Some may see the roads and topography issues here and ask, “what do we believe?” The problem is, even the film suspends the belief on topography and it doesn’t really match up totally to the topographical map of the island that is known from the control room. Player experience in the game is also taken into account here as well, as it may seem shorter for more skilled players to make it through the scene. We base our decisions on good old fashioned intelligent thought and deductive reasoning at this point, attempting to make logical conclusions, in essence, from what we see. The roads and topography are close, but not exact when you dig too deep down the well in a manner of speaking. It’s not the production design as a whole, but all the same, when it comes to the films and the game, they have these same inconsistencies as a byproduct of attempting to establish themselves loyally. The thing with the JP film-canon is that it functions on a sense of generalization. “This generally looks like it works,” as it were, and we keep this in mind a lot.

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